George P. Anthan, the former Washington bureau chief of the Des Moines Register newspaper and a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for series that focused on agriculture policy and food safety, died Aug. 17 at a hospital in Kansas City, Mo. He was 80.
From 1971 until he retired in 2001, Mr. Anthan reported and wrote from the Register’s Washington bureau. He became bureau chief in 1985, leading a news staff of seven reporters at its peak.
Twice he was a finalist for the Pulitzer, journalism’s highest honor, for national reporting. The first time, in 1980, was for a series on the shrinking amount of good farmland for food production. The second, in 1988, was for a series on laxity in Agriculture Department food inspection procedures and the resulting widespread contamination of poultry during processing.
Later he served on the Pulitzer judging committee.
George Peter Anthan was born in St. Joseph, Mo., on June 2, 1936. He graduated from the University of Kansas journalism school in 1958. After two years of Army service, he joined the Des Moines Tribune, the sister newspaper to the Register.
A former resident of Bethesda, Md., Mr. Anthan spent his retirement years in Leawood, Kan.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Ann Sutter Anthan of Leawood; two sons, Pete Anthan of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Elias Anthan of St. Paul, Minn.; and two grandchildren. A son, Nick Anthan, died in 1992.
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